Plain an simple - no forward line

[della]

Just got back from the game after a heavy night on the sydney town.

We are in the same posiotion as last years due to our inabilty to kick a winning score, Kingsley doesn't do enouigh when the pressure is on, Playfair is just not up to AFL standards i feel, Gardiner does some ok things but misses to many tackles, we don't have a power forward in our team and its going to kill us for many more years to come.

Maybe we should go for a tarrant or Fevola i don't know but we won't kick big enough scores with that forward structure.

I am just sick of it all and have had enough of watching us come close but not get the chockies.

Change has to happen or things will be the same, that forward line is jusat ******** pure and simple and it hurts me to watch it.

 

[Akalon]

Ottens and N. Ablett.

 

[BigCat1]

Geelong needs a 1 quality Key forward to complement Ottens and KK. The smalls in the forward line are amongst the best in the AFL.

Simply the club won't be able to win a premiership without someone who can kick 65 goals. FACT

Can they win a Premiership without Bartel = Yes

If Tarrant or Fevola are available then we must do the trade. Pure and simple.

Fevola will kick us 60 or 70 at FF. He does it at Carlton who have an ordinary midfield and game plan. You'd hope he'd mature into a superstar much like the way Barry Hall has.

Tarrant won't kick us that many coz he's a half forward but will allow Ottens to play as a Full Foward as he isn't mobile enough at half Forward.

Jimmy Bartel is a fantastic player but given our current team it might be a blessing in disguise if he was traded

 

[cats2rise]

Id rather FEvola by a mile over Tarrent... but i'd rather not take any of them. Ive grown to the idea of taking Fev, but still i'd rather not but im afraid we will... But we do need someone, and quick

 

[Turbocat]

Geelong needs a 1 quality Key forward to complement Ottens and KK. The smalls in the forward line are amongst the best in the AFL.

Simply the club won't be able to win a premiership without someone who can kick 65 goals. FACT

Can they win a Premiership without Bartel = Yes

If Tarrant or Fevola are available then we must do the trade. Pure and simple.

Fevola will kick us 60 or 70 at FF. He does it at Carlton who have an ordinary midfield and game plan. You'd hope he'd mature into a superstar much like the way Barry Hall has.
Tarrant won't kick us that many coz he's a half forward but will allow Ottens to play as a Full Foward as he isn't mobile enough at half Forward.

Jimmy Bartel is a fantastic player but given our current team it might be a blessing in disguise if he was traded

and just how goals did Hall kick last night again.
My opinion may be different to some.With Nathan we have a future quality KPP.With Ottens and H we guys who compete at the ball,H is less tha adiquate kick but his marking HF generally is good but look at last night. Hardly any Key marking forward contributed.The flooding, the pressure means more floor ball.So,the way the game is heading we must increase our forwardlines capacity to kick scappy goals.Think about Brisbane, yes the KPP players like Brown and Lynch are Key but the ability to come in like Akermanis,Power and Voss and kick a inventive goal has won them plenty of big games S.Johnson, Gary Ablett and Chapman are all good in this are but only Johnson is really a forward. I feel we need to get a player like Russell Robertson to replace KK.We need somebody with spring that can mark on the lead and crumb a goal.This is probably a player the size of Gary Ablett Snr 185cm. Think of the contribution SJ gave this side with his natural,inventive play. I feel we need more of this, so - get McKinnley in this years draft

 

[fishman]

HB: Kingsley Playfair G Ablett
FF: N Ablett Ottens Chapman

Hell, and I cannot fit in S Johnson (maybe rotate in the midfield,) and Mackie.

Looks OK to me. Man, all I would like to see is Kinglsey getting some kicking coaching, Ottens staying fit, Nathan getting stronger and Playfair getting some games under his belt.

Add in backman like Scartlett, Harley, Egan, Milburn, Wojcinski, Hunt, Corey, Enright, Rooke, etc.

Add in midfielders Bartel, Kelly, Tenace, Ling, King, D Johnson,

Man, things do look good in the next few years...

 

[Shell]

I know it is done to death, but Kent, Kent, Kent.. something has to be done. Either someone has to go down to KP and TEACH HIM HOW TO KICK FOR GOAL or maybe a psychologist should help him if its a mental problem.

I know we bang on and on about him, but it's frustrating, it costs us games and it just happens too many times..

 

[della]

Doesn't matter how good our backline is or how hard our midfielders work the reason we lost to the Lions last year and the Swans on friday nite is our inabilty to hurt teams on the scoreboard when we have all the play, the Swans wouldn't of came back if we had of kicked 10 or more goals but we let them stay in the contest and look what happened, unless changes are made we will continue to feel like ******** and lose games we shouldn't, Fevola or tarrant would be nice.

 

[BigCat1]

Look, like you all I'm a mad cats man but seriously take a look at that forward line

KK is good player but is too small and a terrible kick so will never be a superstar. He is more than handy though

Henry is an average player. He drops too many marks, makes dumb decisions and is in a contest with Gaspar for the worst kick in the comp. He is a battler who tries hard IMO

Nathan Ablett is a good 2 years away. He has super super potential but needs to spend the whole preseason doing sprint training. His major worry is the mental side. Does he have the drive to be a superstar.

Ottens is a better ruckman than a forward. As we now know he is too immobile to play anywhere except the square. He is extreamly valuable to the team but isn't the forward we need. His zero intencity doesn't help either as a forward.

The other options of Gardner, Lonegan, McCarthy and Spencer have all had years to prove themselves and have come up with nothing

The small forwards I don't have a problem with. Very happy with thier work.

Face facts guys our forward line is serviceable at best.

Kosi, Reiwoldt, Dal Santo
Milne, Gehrig, Hamill

O'Keefe, Hall, Goodes
Davis, O'loughlan, Schneider

They're foward lines. Sure they have off days but if their midfields crate enough chances they win.

Chuck Fevola or Tarrant in and all of a sudden it gives us a whole new dimenson. We all love our own players but truth is we are are blue collar team with blue collar forwards. We have a midfield coming into its 3 prime years yet they have stuff all to kick the footy at. maybe even try something radical like Scarlett across HF

 

[della]

Agree totally.....

 

[Cat_Mancini]

something has to change it seems that all the forwards we do have can present to a degree quite well but cant kick.

 

[G_Money]

Ottens is a better ruckman than a forward. As we now know he is too immobile to play anywhere except the square. He is extreamly valuable to the team but isn't the forward we need. His zero intencity doesn't help either as a forward.

...

Chuck Fevola or Tarrant in and all of a sudden it gives us a whole new dimenson. We all love our own players but truth is we are are blue collar team with blue collar forwards. We have a midfield coming into its 3 prime years yet they have stuff all to kick the footy at. maybe even try something radical like Scarlett across HF

I have three problems with your post (not just yours specifically, these seem to be ideas that a few people have).

1) Saying that Ottens has 'zero intencity' (sic) is just plain wrong. He doesn't have any mongrel in him, and I would like to see him hit packs harder, but his tackling and pressure was a feature this year. My concern with Ottens is that he will be like Kingy, and play 14 games a year under a constant injury cloud.

2) Why the hell do people think that Tarrant would help us? He is not a key forward, he's Kent Kingsley + Collingwood Hype. He's a handy link man, but not what we need.

3) It's academic anyway, because we can't afford Fevola or Tarrant. We are going to pay 100% of the salary cap this year, and already we are struggling to pay Jimmy (apparently). Both Fevola and Tarrant will be on more than Jimmy. Unless Carlton or Collingwood offer to pay part of their salaries for us (like we did for Mansfield), we won't get them.

We were the highest scoring team at the half way point this year, then we started to believe our own hype, dropped the intensity and lost to Freo and Collingwood. We could have pinched a flag this year, and we missed a golden opportunity, but to me it wasn't the lack of Chris Tarrant that cost us a shot at the title, it was the drop away in intensity. I truly believe that if we:

a) Maintain our focus through the season;
b) Get Blake (or some other ruckman) to help King and Ottens;
c) Get some more development into Nathan Ablett so he can be a genuine target;
d) Get another small defender (and I mean genuine stopping defender, not a rebounder);
e) Have a decent run with injuries

we can finish top four, and from there who knows.

GM

 

[catempire]

I have three problems with your post (not just yours specifically, these seem to be ideas that a few people have).

1) Saying that Ottens has 'zero intencity' (sic) is just plain wrong. He doesn't have any mongrel in him, and I would like to see him hit packs harder, but his tackling and pressure was a feature this year. My concern with Ottens is that he will be like Kingy, and play 14 games a year under a constant injury cloud.

2) Why the hell do people think that Tarrant would help us? He is not a key forward, he's Kent Kingsley + Collingwood Hype. He's a handy link man, but not what we need.

3) It's academic anyway, because we can't afford Fevola or Tarrant. We are going to pay 100% of the salary cap this year, and already we are struggling to pay Jimmy (apparently). Both Fevola and Tarrant will be on more than Jimmy. Unless Carlton or Collingwood offer to pay part of their salaries for us (like we did for Mansfield), we won't get them.

We were the highest scoring team at the half way point this year, then we started to believe our own hype, dropped the intensity and lost to Freo and Collingwood. We could have pinched a flag this year, and we missed a golden opportunity, but to me it wasn't the lack of Chris Tarrant that cost us a shot at the title, it was the drop away in intensity. I truly believe that if we:

a) Maintain our focus through the season;
b) Get Blake (or some other ruckman) to help King and Ottens;
c) Get some more development into Nathan Ablett so he can be a genuine target;
d) Get another small defender (and I mean genuine stopping defender, not a rebounder);
e) Have a decent run with injuries

we can finish top four, and from there who knows.

GM

Right on the money G Money!

 

[Kiza]

We finished in the top 4 last year and our forward line let us down against the lions.

 

[VikingCat]

I don't want Tarrant or Fevola. If people think Geelong believes its own hype now, imagine what would happen with one of these two prima donnas in the team.

It's academic, anyway. As has been pointed out, we can't afford them. But I wouldn't want them at our club, personally. You look at the other forwards mentioned such as Barry Hall and Justin Koschitzke - they have great attitude and application as well as great talent. Tarrant and Fevola don't.

 

[Bojangles17]

Ottens and N. Ablett.

and how many did they kick between them in 2005....

 

[catempire]

and how many did they kick between them in 2005....

They kicked 31, averaged 3.5 per game between them.

I'd take 77 from them next season with another 50 odd from Kent.

 

[cats2rise]

Kinglsy Playfair SJ
N.A Ottens GAJ

Whats wrong with that? Throw in Chappy and we are laughing i rekon. We could do with a 'decent' full forward but we dont need one IMHO if it came down to it. All we need for next year is Kingsly to kick his 50 goals, Ottens 30 (more than capable) with SJ, Ablett and Chappy to kick around the 25 goal mark. Playfair just needs to make a contest which he does. Nablett just to kick even 15 goals from 11 games would be great. But we need someone like a Bartell or Kelly to snag a goal a game

Our forwardline will gel together better next year with Otto uninjured and playfair learning more about the CHF position.

Frankly, i dont think we HAVE to do a big trade, i think we COULD do fine without it. Sure getting a big trade would be a quick fix, but i would love to see our forwardline prove everyone wrong

 

[della]

Our forward line is a joke and the reason why we can't win games especially finals, no use saying that it will gel next year, good chance it won't, Ottens is a big worry as he is always injured, Playfair is a disgraceful performer and Kingsley chips in but doesn't kick bags and doesn't play well in big games

Thgings have to change or we will be crying again in 12mnths

 

[Akalon]

Yes things have to change, but that doesn't necessarily mean trades.

 

[Spermbird]

I really think that a finals game at the SGC in wet slippery conditions is not the ideal game to judge our forward line.

Yes we all cringe when they are going for set shots but they are getting the ball down there.

The Sydney forward line which was rated earlier didn't fire a shot except for Nick Davis & they didn't do much better against Wettoast either.

If we get a good run with injuries and can finish top 2 then we are a better than even chance or snaring the flag with what we've got.

Fev & Tarrant will not improve the forward line sificently to cover their cost & the loss of personel.

 

[FatCat]

Port's flood against Adelaide on Saturday night - now THAT's no forward line.